Why Tensions With Russia Endure

Moscow's Vigor Yields
Conflict With West
Despite Diplomatic Overtures

By

Andrew Osborn in Moscow and By

Marc Champion in Brussels

Updated May 18, 2007 12:01 a.m. ET

As European Union and Russian leaders meet for a difficult summit, two fundamental changes ensure that relations with the West will stay tense for some time: Moscow's new assertiveness, inspired by an economic boom, and its deepening conviction that old enemies are trying to contain Russia's revival.

Relations between Moscow and the U.S., as well as the EU, are at their worst since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visited Moscow on Tuesday to cool tensions ahead of a meeting of...